Dr. Even was a great instructor. His lectures/problem sets contain essentially all the detail students need for the exam and the textbook is an extra resource. Use his office hours/Q&A forum before the exam. He is accessible outside class for help/study tips by email/zoom. Find good study techniques EARLY. His exam covers many topics so CLAS helps.
The MCDB 1LL course was a mixed bag. TAs were often lost, prelabs were confusing, manual lacked clarity, and the course was disorganized/chaotic. Students were offered a small EC opportunity and GS was regularly updated (2 positives of this class). Email responses were unreliable. Labs could have been engaging if given better instruction/detail.
Prof. Even gives pretty engaging lectures and clearly cares about his field. His midterm is very easy if you watch lecture and understand the problem sets. Never went to office hours or did CLAS, and got an 80 on first midterm.
Honestly just awful in so many ways. Terrible PDF assignments that force students to buy Adobe Acrobat and then bait them into clicking links that make them lose all their work (this happened to me and many other classmates). Having to pay for the stupid lab manual that she probably makes thousands off of. Stingy and inaccessible. Horrible prof.
MCDB 1LL is way too much work for 1.5 units. In the first week during Winter quarter of 2022, we were doing remote learning and the LURE project drafts were so confusing, as no experiment videos were provided and we were just doing worksheets based on numbers/data given to us. The pre-labs are also tedious and time-consuming.
Insane amount of work, very disorganized, the work we are doing seems pointless
I took the EEMB W 22. You just have to watch all the recorded lectures on GS, do weekly assignments, and midterm and final test. The lectures are pretty solid. The weekly assignments are interesting but includes a lot of readings. The midterm and finals are MCQ, and asks detailed and tough questions.
Easily one of the worst professors at UCSB. Both of the Intro Biology lab courses are incredibly disorganized. It's almost like Alice was the only one applying to be the head of the bio department and UCSB was stuck with hiring her. If she can get a job, anyone can >:(
His tests are unreasonably hard no matter how much he says he tells you "everything to expect". He's really funny and intelligent, but when the class average on tests are 60, he then blames the students. Grade distribution is also super weird with a ton of A's and a ton of D's, blind-sighting both groups. And again, he blames the students.
Professor Even's lectures are the best in UCSB for me. He does know every concept of biology and how they related to real life examples. Essays and quizzes take up 1/3 of the grade, and quizzes related to readings are really tricky and hard. Midterm and final take up 2/3 of the grade, and they are hard but follow the exam guide you will be okay.
Really interesting class, lots of relevant conversation during section. Science is a bit harder for me personally so I just P/NP'ed it. Good for taking care of a GE. I'm not big on math and science courses, but this was a really good choice! The online setup is well done, left me time for other courses, but midterm and final definitely take work,
Dr. Even makes you work for your grade. His tests are mostly essays with some matching and fill in the blank. He mostly tests based on how well you understand the material rather than memorization. Write detailed notes for the full story, some of the stuff he says isn't always in his lecture slides. Funny and engaging lectures though (EEMB 159 too)
His classes are frustrating. I've taken a few of them. He does a good job of getting students to understand the material but doesn't do a good job of testing this knowledge. TA's are unreasonably harsh graders considering the vagueness of his assignments and sometimes the test questions as well.
He's a good lecturer which is his main strength. His lectures are well structured and easy to follow. That said his tests suck. Doesn't communicate well with students on expectations for tests OR assignments which constitute 100% of the grade. At the end of the day it's useless for students to learn the material well just to be set up for failure
Dr. Even is a REALLY good professor. He dedicates time to understanding how he should teach students, and what works best for them. His lectures during the online formate were the most engaging I have experienced so far. I had him in person for EEMB2, and online for EEMB159, and he was great both times. 1 midterm, final, and section work.
I enjoy how he runs his classes, asking (nonrhetorical!) questions to keep us on our toes and constantly reviewing the older material. His lectures are well organized and he makes it feel like ur really learning scientific tools. Didn't appreciate his tone with students that give wrong answers,+ Noted misunderstanding of international students
Class graded on 2 midterm, 1 final, and discussion section. Dr Even likes to say his exams test your understanding of how material connects together but got my best score when I memorized slides and what he said. The TA's grade harshly since you need to write exactly what they're looking for otherwise your answer is worth nothing. Still a fun class
Let me start by saying, Even isn't bad by any means. He's just not the best. His lectures are, for the most part, average and engaging, but the tests can and probably will trip you up. I'm an EEMB major and I got a C on the midterm, the only thing that saved me was Latto's final. I think he cares, his tests are just a little wonky. He's average.
Not good at her job. Has made multiple mistakes such as telling people incorrect grade cut offs and accusing people of cheating and later admitting it was her mistake. Makes you feel like a number. Weeder class
Even has very engaging lectures and teaches the concepts clearly with lots of examples. His exam was much more difficult than expected/seemed to try to trick students though. Went to his OH once and he made a fool of students who participated and were wrong... scary. Course itself: problem sets, his ecology exam, and Latto's evolution exam.
Not bad, but doesn't deserve a rating this high. He explains things clearly, but focuses on basic stuff, so its hard to get left behind, but there is not much meat for more advanced students. Also he is convinced his tests test "understanding" not rote knowledge, but to get good marks you legit have to basically memorize his explanations of things
Firstly, the content he teaches is incredibly easy, yet the exams feel more like an assessment of your reading comprehension. He reuses questions so you cant review the exam(which is incredibly lazy) and the exam itself had a multitude of answers and vague wording that he justified rudely using a dictionary definition. Least favorite prof at UCSB.
Doesnt let you review the tests, spends ton of time during lecture justifying why EEMB is a good field of study, his pass rates will tell you all you need to know
Solid material. Things were clearly given. However, he is the only professor I have had during the Pandemic that has enforced ProctorU. It is unfair to a lot of students with varying environments. Also, he is not understanding when it comes to outside difficulties and basically says, "my decision is final and it is up to you on how you take that."